Room of the Week: Tereza Bajan, Bajan Design Group

Category: Storage: Closet

Designer: Tereza Bajan, Bajan Design Group

Location: West Vancouver, B.C.

Goal: While interior designer Tereza Bajan was renovating a 20-year-old house in West Vancouver, the client asked that her daughter’s former bedroom be turned into a spacious walk-in closet.

Inspiration: “I wanted the client to have a feminine room that she could call her own,” says Bajan. “Putting the Hunter Douglas Silhouettes onto the south side window allowed her to have beautiful light filter through while giving her privacy. The fabrics in the valance and upholstered seat added some softness while the crystal Schonbeck chandelier brought a hint of opulence. The gray and white tones were continuous with the rest of the house, which has gray wood floors and lots of Calcutta and Carrara marbles.”

Breakdown: At the time of renovation, the client’s daughters were no longer living in her house, so she opted to turn one of their bedrooms into a walk-in closet. The existing bedroom had an adjoining bathroom with an entrance to the hallway. “It made sense to close off the entrance to the bath from the hallway and open it up from the adjoining wall in the bathroom,” Bajan says. “The only thing I would have liked to add was a champagne/wine bar, for those times you are getting ready for a night on the town.”

According to Bajan, the most important part of the project was creating a space to hold the client’s clothing, shoes, accessories, and bags—a task that required specific measurements for the custom casework by Van Arbour Design. The center island has a Pental top in Pearl White Polished quartz, and the walls are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Pavilion Gray (but taken down two shades for a softer look).

Tips to Get the Look: Not everyone has the option for such a large closet, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make your space luxurious. “Mix some different elements within the room if the space allows it,” Bajan suggests. “Add fabrics, eye-catching lighting, and mirrors for reflection. Keep it light in color, and go up the walls as much as possible for storage to get more space out of your room.” As for maximizing your closet layout, “a freestanding linear dresser can be placed against a closet wall with a short hanging rod placed above it. Then hang two short hanging rods stacked on top of each other on one side of the dresser, with a rod placed a little higher on the other side to accommodate long pieces. A couple open shelves above this can host baskets and your other particulars.”

Image courtesy of Tereza Bajan.